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Friday, September 22, 2006

Xenophobe - Atari Lynx

The Atari Lynx was pretty crummy when it came to action-platformers, but Xenophobe was the exception to the rule. It was a perfect game for a portable system, since it's over so quickly.

The Lynx version was a superb rendition of the arcade. How the various programmers and artists managed to cram so many arcade titles onto the Lynx almost unscathed remains a mystery to me. Then, just for kicks, they add in multiplayer for four, added a pile of oddball characters, and extra items that can be collected about.

Of course, Xenophobe is a classic shooter, and there isn't much strategy apart from zapping the big Xenos that peek their heads in through the door. Oh, and you need to duck. A lot. You're probably better off just crawling around. It gets pretty hectic when shaking off several little aliens, while one or two big ones crawl your way. Why there weren't a dozen more games of this stripe on Atari's portable, I'll never know.